(This is the fourth part of a series of in-depth articles on the lives of Republicans who died in Dublin in the 1930s to 1950s period, author Sam McGrath has previously examined the fatal shooting of IRA member Peter McCarthy on Lower Clanbrassil Street in 1937, the killing of another young IRA Volunteer Jackie Griffith near Merrion Square in 1943 and the accidental shooting of Republican Patrick Murray in 1950.)
Introduction
On 11 May 1939, 22-year-old Christopher (Christy) Bird was accidentally shot during an IRA training class in a house in The Liberties, Dublin. He died two days later of his wounds in hospital. His funeral in Mount Jerome Cemetery was attended by thousands of people but today there is no headstone or marker at his final resting place. A fellow IRA member was arrested and charged with manslaughter but was acquitted in court.
The death occurred in the background of the IRA’s bombing campaign in England which was launched in January 1939 and conceived by Seamus O’Donovan (IRA Director of Munitions/Chemicals in 1922-23), Sean Russell (IRA Chief of Staff) and Joseph McGarrity (Clan na Gael). The 12-month period saw the banning of the Bodenstown Wolfe Tone commemoration in June 1939, the death of five civilians in an IRA bomb in Coventry in August 1939, the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, the IRA’s raid for arms and ammunition on the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park, Dublin in December 1939 and the arrest and hanging of IRA members Peter Barnes and James McCormick in Birmingham in February 1940.
Family Background
Christopher Bird was born on 25 July 1916 in Dublin just a few months after the Easter Rising. His father Bernard Bird (b. 15 July 1877) grew up at 22 Eccles Street, off Dorset Street, Dublin 7, with his parents Bernard Bird Sr, a porter, and Mary Anne (née Montgomery). His mother Christina Bird (née White) (b. 19 December 1875) spent her early years across the river at 25 Old Kilmainham, Dublin 8 with parents James White, a labourer, and Mary (née Gallagher). Bernard and Christina married on 08 July 1900 in St James’s Church on the corner of James’s Street and Echlin Street. At the time Bernard was employed as a butcher and lived at 61 Arbour Hill, Dublin 7, while Christina, of 29 Old Kilmainham, Dublin 8, worked as a ‘book folder’.
The author has been unsuccessful in locating the family in the 1901 Census. Christina gave birth to at least 10 children between 1903 and 1919, four of whom died under the age of three.
1. Patrick Joseph was born on 27 March 1903 at 57 Capel St, Dublin 1. He died of tuberculosis five months later on 05 September 1903 at 22 Usher’s Quay, Dublin 8.
2. Mary Christina was born on 4 March 1904 at 6 Sarsfield Quay, Dublin 7.
3. Michael Patrick was born on 16 March 1906 at 42 Watling St, Dublin 8. He died of pertussis (whooping cough) a year later on 01 May 1907 at 29 Old Kilmainham.
4. Elizabeth was born on 10 Feb 1908 at 6 Kearn’s Place, Dublin 8.
5. James was born on 16 December 1909 at 48 Watling Street, Dublin 8. He died of bronchitis two years later on 06 February 1912 at the same address.
The 1911 Census shows Bernard (35), a labourer on the railway, living in a three-roomed tenement at 48.1 Watling Street with his wife Christina (34) and their three children Mary C (7), Elizabeth (3) and James (1). The census records show that Christina had given birth to a total of seven children but four had died so information/birth certificates for two other deceased children are as of yet unaccounted for.
Christina gave birth to further children:
6. Matthew was born on 27 January 1912 at 48 Watling Street, Dublin 8
7. William was born on 02 June 1913 at 43 Watling St, Dublin 8. He died of “debility from birth” ten weeks later on 04 August 1913 at the same address.
By 1914, the Bird family had moved to 19 Usher’s Island on the River Liffey quays near Bridgefoot Street in Dublin 8 where the last of the three children were born:
8. Kathleen was born on 15 July 1914 and died of pneumonia, aged 3, on 11 February 1918 at home
9. Christopher was born on 25 July 1916 at home
10. Anthony was born on 19 Feb 1919 at home
It is unclear if the Bird family played any involvement in the politics of the 1919-23 period but their home was raided by the Welsh Regiment of the British army on 03 December 1920 in an attempt to arrest William Kelly who lived in the same building. Bernard, the father of the then four-year-old Christopher, was marked as being present and his surname was misspelt as “Bind” in the raid report.
In the late 1930s, the Bird family comprised of parents and five surviving children Mary, Elizabeth, Matthew, Christopher and Anthony. Two of them had settled down by this stage. The eldest daughter Mary Bird married John Gilmartin on 28 September 1929 at St Audoen’s Church, High Street, Dublin 8. The eldest son Matthew Bird married Mary Brophy on 09 April 1939 at Aughrim Street Church, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 just a month before his brother’s death.
There is little known about Christopher’s early life, schooling or any influences that helped shape his decision to join the IRA. The only personal detail available (so far) is that he was employed as a labourer in the Dublin Whiskey Distillery (DWD), Thomas Street.
Dublin IRA (1938-39)
The IRA in the capital was described as a “depleted” unit in early 1938 by J Bower Bell in the Secret Army (pg 177). It is apparent that the Dublin Brigade was reorganised and designated the Dublin Battalion in this period and comprised of four companies that mirrored the former battalion structure. This is corroborated by new recruit Tom Doran in 1939 who was “allocated to No. 2 Company, formerly the Second Battalion, whose stomping ground was Dorset Street, East Wall, Fairview [and] Artane” according to Uinseann MacEoin in The IRA in the Twilight Years (pg 499). Further evidence is a reference to a hall in Ballsbridge used by “3rd Battalion members … later No. 3 Company” until Spring 1940 in Twilight Years (pg 413).
The Dublin Battalion IRA officers in 1939 were Mairtin O Cadhain (O/C)(d. 1970), Myles Heffernan (Adjutant and/or Intelligence) (d. 1967), Jim Colton (Quartermaster) (d. 1959) and Christy Quearney (Training Officer) (d. 1984) according to Quearney and others in The IRA in the Twilight Years. However, while it was in reality a battalion in size, the IRA in the capital did still describe itself as the Dublin Brigade in some correspondence including newspaper memorial notices following the death of Bird. I believe Bird was a recent recruit to No. 4 Company which was based in the Southwest of the city.
Shooting (11 May 1939)
On the evening of Thursday 11 May 1939, Christopher Bird left his family home at 19 Usher’s Island at about 6.30pm. He spoke on the street to a friend and neighbour Arthur O’Hara, of 33 Watkins Street, for about 20 minutes and then headed off on foot southside in the direction of Donore Avenue off Cork Street. A distance of approximately 1.5km, this walk takes about 20 minutes and suggests that Bird arrived at his destination, Darley Terrace, at about 7.10pm.
What transpired over the course of the next 1 hour and 20 minutes has never fully been explained publicly but we can attempt to put together a timeline of events from the newspaper accounts and inquest. The next official incident was a phone call made for an ambulance at 8.34pm from Dwyer’s garage at 73 Cork Street by Seamus Dowling (17) of 22 Darley Terrace.
The ambulance’s driver, Fireman William Carroll of Rathmines Fire Station, was met on Donore Avenue by Dowling and directed to Darley Terrace. They entered the house and found Christopher Bird lying on the couch in the front room. He had been shot in the stomach with a .45 bullet from a Colt revolver. The lack of blood-stained sheets or blood on the furniture led to an early assumption in the press that the shooting had occurred elsewhere and Bird was moved to the house from a different location. Fireman William Carroll later gave evidence that he asked Dowling what had happened and was told: “It does not matter, get him away to hospital quick. He has a wound in the stomach”.
Bird was accompanied by Dowling on the five-minute drive in the ambulance to the Meath Hospital on Heytsbury Street, Dublin 8. Bird received immediate medical attention and the single bullet was extracted at about 11pm by surgeons Dr Charles E Tait and Dr Henry Stokes. Fireman William Carroll said that Dowling supplied Bird’s name but refused to give his address as he feared, in his words, that the ambulance men would tell Bird’s mother of the incident before he had the opportunity to do so. When he was told that the address was only for record purposes, Dowling gave a false address for Bird of 5 Old Bridge, Kilmainham. Dowling left the hospital at 9pm and was not seen by his family for a number of days.
Death (13 May 1939)
Christopher Bird was in a very weak condition and “suffering from great pain and grave shock” according to evidence later given by Dr Stokes. The bullet had entered his right side, passed through his stomach and lodged in the skin on the left side of the groin. His intestines and bladder had been torn by the bullet. Although conscious, he did not make any statement to the police. He held on for two days but succumbed to his wounds on Saturday 13 May 1939 at about 6.30pm.
Although he was described as 21, his birth certificate shows that he was born on 25 July 1916 and so was actually 22 years (and 9 months) at the time of his death. He was described as a “well-built young man” of “about 5 feet in height” and weighing nine stone (57kg) in the Irish Press (17 May 1939). His father Bernard told the Evening Herald that his son was a “reserved type of boy” who was “always home about 11 o’clock”. As far as he was concerned, Christopher was “not a member of any political organisation”.
Following the news of his death, it was reported in the Irish Press (16 May 1939) “that a large number of sympathisers had assembled in the vicinity of the hospital” including “many members of republican organisations”. As relatives were only allowed to see the body, six uniformed Gardaí and a number of plain-clothed detectives had to turn away hundreds of people. On the same day, the State pathologist John McGrath carried out a post-mortem examination on the body with Dr Charles Tait.
On 15 May 1939, a death notice was put in the national newspapers by the IRA that paid tribute to “Volunteer Christopher Bird, Dublin Brigade, IRA” who had “died as a result of wounds accidentally received in the service of the Irish Republic”.
A second death notice included the Irish sentence “Leabha gheal imeasc na bhFinghini go bhfagha a anam uasal” which I’ve been told translates as “May his soul obtain a wonderful resting place among the Fenians”.
The Garda investigation into the shooting was headed by District Inspector O’Sullivan and Superintendent Peter Ennis who worked under the overall direction of Chief Superintendent John McGloin. Although the local area was searched thoroughly and local residents questioned by police, the revolver was never found.
Arrest of Seamus Darling (15 May 1939)
On 15 May 1939, Seamus Dowling returned home to his parents who had not seen their son since the evening of the shooting four days previous. Mr William Dowling asked him “What was all the trouble out” to which his son replied, “It was only an accident, I will say nothing more about it”. Mr Dowling told his son that the Guards were looking for him and he replied “If they want me, they can come and get me”. Mr Dowling informed the police that his son had returned home. Seamus Dowling was arrested at home by Station Sergeant Joseph Reidy of Newmarket Garda Station who charged him with manslaughter, being in possession of a .45 revolver with intent to endanger life and without a firearms certificate. Bird was taken into custody in the Bridewell Garda Station by Superintendent Peter Ennis and remanded for a week in the Dublin District Court.
After speaking to his solicitor Con Lehane, Dowling issued the following statement which he refused to sign: “Christopher Bird was accidentally wounded while engaged in his duties as a soldier of the Irish Republic. I engaged an ambulance to get him to hospital. That is the lot. I don’t wish to state anything further”.
Funeral (17 May 1939)
The remains of Christopher Bird were removed on the evening of 16 May from the Meath Hospital to the Franciscan Church, Merchant’s Quay. The coffin was draped with a tricolour flag and accompanied by a guard of honour who walked beside the hearse. They were followed by 1,000-1,500 men marching in military formation. Hundreds of members of the public lined the streets as the cortege travelled through New Bride Street, Kevin Street, Dean Street, Francis Street and Bridgefoot Street to the quays.
Following the funeral mass at 10:30am the following morning, the cortege set off from Franciscan Church for Mount Jerome Cemetery in Harold’s Cross, Dublin 6. Christopher Bird was buried in grave A47-620. Wreaths were laid by Cumann na mBan, Clann na nGaedheal (Girl Scouts), Cumann na gCailini and other organisations. The chief mourners were Mr and Mrs Bernard Bird (parents); Matthew and Anthony (brothers); Elizabeth (sister); Mrs Mary Gilmartin and John Kilmartin (sister and brother-in-law) and Mr and Mrs J Brophy (relations).
Christopher was presumably a member of the Workers Union of Ireland as the trade union was represented by three officials – Sean Nugent, Sean Keating and R James. T Knowles attended on behalf of the Bottling Staff of the DWD where Bird was employed.
A number of senior republican figures paid their respects including Patrick E Sweeney, George Plunkett, Con Lehane and Joseph Clarke. Noted female republican activists – Madame Maud Gonne MacBride, Mrs Caitlín Brugha, Miss Brugha, Miss Eileen Tubbert and Mrs Nora Rogers – also attended the funeral.
Press photographers were approached by young men at the cemetery and warned not to take any pictures. This explains the lack of images published in the newspapers. Prayers at the graveside were received by Reverend Father Matthew Haran OFM (Franciscans). At the graveside, a bugler sounded “The Last Post” and the graveside oration was delivered by Mairtin O Cadhain. O Cadhain, who held the position of Dublin Battalion IRA O/C from mid-1938 to June 1939, told the large crowd:
“the bravery with which Christopher Brid approached death would be an inspiration to his living comrades to carry on the work for which he gave his life. The Dublin Brigade, his parents, the Irish Republican Army and the people of Ireland could be proud of him. The cause that called for such bravery and devotion must be a holy cause, a just cause, as otherwise, men like Christopher Bird would not show such fortitude in the face of death.” The Examiner, 18 May 1939
Inquest (16 May 1939)
An inquest into the shooting was presided over by Dr DA McErlean on 16 May 1939. The post-mortem confirmed that death was due to “toxaemia and shock following a wound inflicted by a bullet which pierced the abdomen, going in a downward direction from right to left”. The inquest was adjourned pending the result of the manslaughter case.
Dublin District Court (late May-June 1939)
Donough O’Donovan (Chief State Solicitor’s Office) opened the case on 23 May 1939 in front of District Justice Matthew Hannan. Seamus Dowling (17) was described as a factory worker employed by Messrs Spratt’s (dog food manufacturers). Bird’s parents said that they had never met Seamus Dowling before and had never seen their son with any firearms. O’Donivan went over the basic information and formalities regarding the case. It was accepted that the wound was not self-inflicted due to the direction of the bullet and the lack of scorching or powder on Bird’s clothes. On 10 June 1939, District Judge Hannan sent Dowling for trial to the Circuit Criminal Court. Dowling, who was not professionally represented, declined to make a statement or apply for bail.
Circuit Criminal Court (July 1939)
Seamus Dowling pled not guilty on 07 July 1939 telling the court that “Although I pleaded not guilty, I do not intend to call evidence. I am here, not because the police believe I am guilty, but because I would not divulge the names of my comrades. I did not shoot Christopher Bird”.
The state’s case was represented by Martin Maguire Senior Counsel (SC) and Walter Molony who admitted there was nothing to justify a charge of deliberate killing. After an absence of ten minutes, the jury at the Circuit Criminal Court acquitted Dowling on 08 July 1939 of the manslaughter and firearms charges. He was a free man. Judge Cahir Davitt summed up “before the jury could convict, they must be satisfied that Dowling had killed Bird and that the shooting, which all the evidence tended to show was accidental, had been the result of a high degree of negligence in Dowling’s handling of a firearm”. He continued that “if he just believed that the incident had some connection with the organisation known as the Irish Republican Army, they would consider that more than two people were concerned, not in the particular incident, but in the whole surrounding circumstances”
Memorials and grave
There were memorial notices put in the newspapers on the first anniversary of the death by his comrades and his “brokenhearted” family.
Christopher’s parents buried another child less than two years later. Elizabeth Lily Bird (32), a shirtmaker, died on 12 August 1941 of pulmonary tuberculosis and heart failure. Her mother Christina was at the family home at 19 Usher’s Lane when she died. Christina passed away, aged 63, at home on 28 January 1944. She would have buried at least five children in her life and perhaps as many as seven.
Her widower Bernard followed on 19 April 1949 aged 73 in St Kevin’s Hospital. All four family members are buried in the same plot which I was informed via email by the helpful Mount Jerome staff “lies two graves to the right of Kavanagh / O’Brien family headstone” which can be seen on the left-hand side of the photograph below. As it currently stands, there is no headstone or memorial to mark the grave of Christy Bird. It is unclear if there was one previously.
Legacy
Christopher Bird has received little attention in Irish Republican history books or articles that were published in the decades following his death. J Bower Bell in The Secret Army (1970) wrote briefly and concisely that Seamus Dowling “was acquitted of the accidental shooting of Christopher Bird during a training class”. Noted Dublin historian Eamon Mac Thomais, who joined the IRA in about 1950, wrote in The Irish People (07 June 1980) that Christy Bird died “while training in the Dublin Mountains”. Mac Thomais was clearly mixing up his stories as there is no suggestion he was shot anywhere but Darley Terrace. An unknown writer in The Irish People (20 December 1986) described how Bird had been “accidentally shot to death during preparations for the S Campaign in England”. While the time period is correct, I have seen nothing to corporate that Bird was going on active service in Britain. Conor Foley in Legion of the Rearguard (1992) refers to Seamus Dowling who “accidentally shot dead another volunteer during an arms training class” but does not name Bird.
The publication of Uinseann MacEoin’s The IRA in the Twilight Years 1923-1948 in 1997 revealed some important new information about the incident. Uinseann MacEoin, then known as Vincent McGuone, was active with the IRA in Dublin in the 1939 period and was interned in the Curragh for most of 1940-1943. In a piece in the book by Sean O’Neill, he reveals that Seamus Dowling was the “Training Officer of No. 4 Company” and suggests that it was another IRA member named Jack Campbell who fired the fatal shot that evening. However, it was Seamus Dowling who “awaited” the “police and ambulance men, taking the rap on a manslaughter charge”. This would chime in with Dowling’s assistance that “I did not shoot Christopher Bird”. Dowling was described as a “cheerful fellow with hair prematurely grey” by Sean O’Neill.
A footnote states that “the writer” (Uinseann MacEoin) “was present and remained” at the scene of the shooting. This would suggest that there were at least four people at the arms training class – Seamus Dowling (training officer), Christopher Bird, Jack Campbell and Uinseann MacEoin. However, it should be noted that none of the contemporary newspaper articles made any reference or hints to there being any other people present. If Sean O’Neill did remain behind at the scene, this was also not mentioned by any witnesses or the ambulance men at the inquest. If Jack Campbell did handle the revolver which went off, there was nothing to suggest that the judiciary and authorities were aware of this or tried to find anybody else in relation to the shooting. The judge in the case was quite clear in his view that Bird’s death was caused by the “high degree of negligence in Dowling’s handling of a firearm” and never referred to a third party named or otherwise.
Postscript: Dowling brothers
Seamus Dowling’s younger brother Liam Dowling (19) was arrested on 31 March 1940 with 22 other IRA recruits while drilling in St Anne’s Park, Raheny. On 15 April 1940 in Collins Barracks, Liam Dowling was sentenced by the Special Criminal Court to 18 months imprisonment on charges of engaging in unlawful military exercises and being a member of an illegal organisation. The commanding officer Mick Dunne, of 66 Carleton Road, Marino, received a two-year sentence. Following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, about half a dozen IRA internees signed them out of the Curragh to join the British army to fight against Germany. Amongst this number were Liam Dowling, Jim Kerr of Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Kevin Neville of Cork City and International Brigade veteran Paddy Smith of Dublin. What became of Liam Dowling, I’d love to know.
Seamus Dowling, who had been acquitted of the manslaughter of Christy Bird, remained active with the IRA. He was arrested on 13 June 1940 in a house in Oberstown, Skreen, Tara, County Meath in possession of arms, maps and other documents. On 10 August 1940, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment by the Special Criminal Court for the unlawful possession of a .45 Webley revolver, 13 rounds of ammunition and for refusing to give an account of his movements. Seamus Dowling was found not guilty of having the revolver with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to properly.
A third Dowling brother, Sean Dowling, was arrested with 27 other IRA men at a meeting in Crumlin Brickworks on 02 May 1941. The police were clearly acting on specific information and the raid was later described as “a set up” by one of the arrestees Sean O’Neill in The IRA in Twilight Years. Giving his address as Derry Road, Crumlin, Sean Dowling was sentenced to one-year imprisonment in the Special Criminal Court for refusing to account for his movements and being a member of an illegal organisation. More senior men Paddy Brown and Tony Ruane (a Civil War veteran from Bohola, County Mayo) were sentenced to 2 years and 18 months imprisonment respectively.
Contact
If anyone has any further information on the life, death or funeral of Christy Bird, please email me at matchgrams(at)gmail.com. It would be great to track down a photograph or mass card. I would love to speak to any of the descendants of Chrity’s surviving siblings (Matthew, Anthony and Mary/May Gilmartin) and the Dowling family. Or indeed anyone who has any further information on the events or characters mentioned.
References
The Examiner, the Evening Herald, the Irish Independent, the Irish Press, The Irish Times, the Sunday Independent, The Wolfe Tone Weekly from 12 May 1939 to 13 May 1940
Bowyer Bell, J. The Secret Army: A History of the IRA, 1916-1970 (London, 1972)
Foley, Conor. Legion of the rearguard: the IRA and the modern Irish state (London, 1992)
MacEoin, Uinseann. The IRA in the twilight years, 1923 – 1948 (Dublin, 1997)
Thanks to
Frank McGarry (Mount Jerome Cemetery); John O’Neill (The Treason Felony blog)